Author: Gugu Lourie
Iconic beauty products firm Avon plans to leverage the vast appetite for mobile services in Africa to grow women entrepreneurs. Angela Cretu, Avon CEO told TechFinancials, that the emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East have immense potential. “The younger population, coupled with the growing disposable incomes from the increasing middle class, make for a very compelling case for expansion and investment,” says Cretu. “Africa and the Middle East have a young tech-savvy population that is open to using digital services. “We’re seeing a huge uptake of digital services in Africa and we plan to leverage the…
Thabo Mokgatlha has been appointed as the new chairman of YeboYethu, the black economic empowerment (BEE) scheme of Vodacom. BEE is designed to widen the South African economy’s ownership, mainly in white hands 26 years after apartheid. Mokgatlha will replace Zarina Bassa, who will step down with effect from the next annual general meeting, scheduled for 27 July. He is the CEO of Baphalane Ba Mantserre Investment Holdings and serves as a non-executive director on various other boards. Baphalane Ba Mantserre Investment Holdings is the investment holding arm of the Baphalane Ba Mantserre Community Trust. The Baphalane Ba Mantserre Community is a…
Square, the digital payment company, run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has bought Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s streaming platform Tidal. As part of the transaction, Jay-Z will move to Square’s board of directors. Square is paying $297 million (R4,5 billion) in cash and stock for a “significant majority ownership stake”, and existing artist shareholders will be the remaining stakeholders. Tidal will operate independently alongside Square’s other ventures. Jay-z bought Tidal for $56 million (R852 million) in 2015 and announced plans to turn it into the first artist-owned streaming service, following a star-studded launch featuring Madonna, Daft Punk, Kanye West and more.…
Turntide Technologies (Turntide), which makes a smart motor system for buildings that can sharply reduce energy consumption, has completed an $80 million funding round. The funding is backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition Ventures, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Keyframe Capital, Fifth Wall’s Climate Technology Fund and Captain Planet LP. The company produces the Smart Motor System, which it says is designed around its revolutionary switched reluctance motor (SRM) technology. SRMs have been used for decades in environments that demand 100% dependability. But recent advances in supporting technologies have permitted Turntide to develop a patented,…
Customers can now deposit cash directly onto their bank card at the till point in any Shoprite, Checkers or Usave store. Together with other established in-store services like cash withdrawals, money transfers, and bill payments, this new functionality means shoppers can now perform the most basic banking tasks at all supermarkets within the Shoprite Group. This move is similar to the one launched by Pick n Pay last year in partnerships with TymeBank. The Shoprite Group said cash deposits at till points offer customers a range of benefits, including low transaction costs and unbeatable convenience. The company has 1 700…
The future of Volvo Cars is electric and the new Volvo C40 Recharge is the latest manifestation of its commitment to a zero-emission future. The C40 Recharge has all the benefits of an SUV but with a lower and sleeker design. It is based on the CMA vehicle platform and the first Volvo model in history designed as pure electric only. Greg Maruszewski, managing director at Volvo Car South Africa, said the launch of the Volvo C40 Recharge marks yet another significant step when it comes to Volvo Cars’ commitment to minimising its environmental impact and making the cities of…
Liquid Telecom, a pan-African telecommunications group, ensured continuity of service to its customers during the recent outages of the SEA-ME-WE 5 and EIG submarine cables. The company operates an intelligent subsea cable system that automatically reroutes network traffic during such outages, thus ensuring service reliability on our resilient architecture. This differentiates Liquid Telecom from other wholesalers that do not have access to similar infrastructure. “With over 57,700 km of submarine cable fibre linking Africa to Europe, the Middle East and Asia, Liquid Telecom’s subsea network is extensive and offers low latency to global destinations. Keeping our customers connected is and has…
Alaris Holdings, South Africa’s antenna specialist, announced on Monday it has acquired UK-based Linwave Technologies. In January, Alaris informed investors that it is in talks to buy a UK firm. The JSE AltX firm, which listed since July 2008, said it has long been on the lookout for opportunities to widen its already substantial footprint. Alaris Holdings Group CEO, Juergen Dresel, has indicated previously that Alaris set out to complement the Group with strong RF/microwave electronics design and RF assembly capabilities. Linwave Technologies fits this strategic requirement like a glove. A share purchase agreement was signed on Friday 26 February, with…
Klarna has become the highest-valued private FinTech in Europe and the second-highest worldwide. The Swedish buy now, pay later behemoth and upstart bank announced on Monday secured $1 billion USD in an equity funding round to accelerate international expansion and further capture global retail growth. The new funding values Klarna at $31 billion at a post-money valuation. The funding was confirmed today by the company in a statement after it was leaked to the media. Klarna enables consumers to shop, pay and bank in a smarter way, designed to fit the lives they lead, not the requirements of the traditional…
MTN Group announced on Monday that its Nigerian operation has attracted 12.2 million new customers in 2020. The telco said it added 12.2 million new subscribers in the year to end-December to reach 76.5 million customers. The company also said active data customers rose by 7.4 million to 32.6 million, supported by growth in gross connections and expanding its 4G network. Data traffic rose by 126.5% and average usage by 64%. The company said it added 8.2 million new smartphones to its network, bringing its smartphone penetration to 45.9% versus 41.9% in 2019. “Our performance demonstrates the strong operational and…